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The Context Matters: The Effects of Single‐Member versus At‐Large Districts on City Council Diversity
Author(s) -
Trounstine Jessica,
Valdini Melody E.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american journal of political science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.347
H-Index - 170
eISSN - 1540-5907
pISSN - 0092-5853
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00329.x
Subject(s) - diversity (politics) , representation (politics) , context (archaeology) , white (mutation) , political science , affect (linguistics) , population , geography , gender studies , demographic economics , sociology , demography , law , politics , economics , biochemistry , chemistry , archaeology , communication , gene
Scholars continue to debate the degree to which electoral institutions matter for representation. The literature predicts that minorities benefit from districts while women benefit from at‐large elections. The mechanisms by which institutions affect the ability of traditionally underrepresented groups to win seats have been understudied. Using an analysis of over 7,000 cities and interviews with city councilors, we find that compared to at‐large systems, district systems can increase diversity only when underrepresented groups are highly concentrated and compose a substantial portion of the population. In addition, we find that the electoral system has a significant effect on representation only for African American male and white female councilors; the proportion of African American women and Latina councilors is not affected by the use of either district or at‐large systems.